A PREVIOUSLY popular restaurant is set to reopen under new management.

Jenny Tucker and Jay Christopher, 45, will be reopening Pod Shavers Barn in Bishop Lydeard later next month.

The pair moved to Bridgwater at the start of the Covid crisis after losing their jobs at a health retreat in Norfolk.

Luckily, they had already made the decision before the lockdown that they wanted to start their own business, so the global pandemic gave them the spur-on they needed to get started.

Jenny and Jay met a few years ago as they both decided to change their careers and attend culinary school to train as professional chefs.

Before, Jenny was an ambulance technician and Jay was a Royal Marine before working in property management.

Now they’re on to their next project - revamping Pod Shavers and bringing it back in to use.

They acquired the building closed and uncared for, and have their work cut out for them to get it ready for opening.

Mr Christopher said: “The previous business owners ran the restaurant for 20 years but only utilised the court yard and main hall restaurant .

“We are looking to give the barn a complete overall, new kitchen, toilets, restaurant, extended parking, courtyard and renovate the old cow feeding shed adjacent to the restaurant.

“We are looking to create a covered but open addition seating area for the bar restaurant that utilises many of the original features such as feeding troths as ice buckets just to name one. It will be a rustic but chic dinning, drinking experience.

“The barn is u-shaped with the courtyard in the middle.

“We are looking to create a wine bar type environment.

“Overall we are looking to create a restaurant, bar but also create a venue that can cater for parties, wedding etc.”

The pair admit they are concerned by the thought of starting a business amid a pandemic, but they say the support they have received has been ‘phenomenal’.

Mr Christopher said: “With the closure of other restaurant business ,we see this as a great opportunity to establish a new restaurant venue.

“Including our training at Ashburton, we have invested north of £100,000 in this venture and that does not include the blood, sweat and tears of the next two months of refurbishment.

“We are putting everything we have into this venture and the support from family and friends has been phenomenal, a lot of people are cheering us on.”